How to Nest for Less | My Life as a DIY Wannabe

First, let me remind you about the Thirty One bag giveaway, the Plaid Crafts giveaway, the Cutting Edge Stencils giveaway and the Pick Your Plum giveaway, WHEW!! Ok, now on to the post…

It’s been one crazy, hectic, unbelievable and amazing year of blogging! I can’t believe where my life has taken me in this past year, but I’m loving every minute of it!

So… what does happen every minute of it? I get a lot of people ask me how I manage a full time job plus this blog… plus being a wife and mother. Well, here’s a little look into my {somewhat} ordinary day!

5:15am
Yep, this is what time my alarm goes off every weekday morning. Now I will often press the snooze button for another 5 minutes of sleep, but this is my normal wake-up call each day. Yak!

6:05am
After my shower, blow drying my extremely thick hair, applying makeup, brushing my teeth and a quick clothes change I’m finally out the door! My hubby and daughter are still sleeping quietly when I leave each day. It’s nice that he can get her up and ready, but stinks that I don’t see them until the evening.

6:30am
Arrive at work. Yep! I get to work every Monday-Friday at 6:30am. Now I can usually take a quick peek at my blog emails that have gathered through the night, check my Facebook page and link up to any blog parties that I may have missed the night before. I’m normally finished with my bloggy catch-up by 7am and am in desperate need of coffee and a quick bite of breakfast..

7:00am
I sit at my desk to eat, go through my work emails and write a to-do list for the day. I think I have about 10 different to-do lists… scribbled in my daily planner, a notebook, sticky notes, on my iPhone… yeah, I’m definitely a planner.

I usually schedule my Twitter, Facebook and Google+ pages to advertise my daily post around 7:30.

7:45-11:30am
This is the crazy part of my day. I’m an Art Director/Graphic Designer. Since most of my “clients” don’t start calling me until later in the day, this is when I cram in most of my work. I’m uninterrupted by phone calls and emails so I can really focus on the task at hand. I’m mostly creating flyers, ads, logos, brochures and any other requested marketing materials.

11:30am-12:30pm
Lunch time! Here is where I spend my time running errands. I’ll head out to pick up supplies for future projects or stop by Goodwill to browse the furniture section. I usually schedule out a week’s worth of lunches in advance so I have a plan of attack for all my errands. I’m telling ya, this hour during the middle of my day definitely keeps me organized and on point. When I get back to my office, I’ll quickly browse through Facebook, Twitter and my email account while eating lunch at my desk (that’s a yummy avocado chicken cobb salad from Panera!).

12:30-4:30pm
Now my work inbox is starting to accumulate a massive amount of emails! I work my way through my oldest emails to the newest. I flag every email when it is complete so I can clearly see which projects still need to be worked on and nothing gets lost in the mix. I return phone calls and work, work, work! Sometimes I get to do cool things like commercial shoots, photo sessions, radio spots, etc. Yep, I LOVE MY JOB!

4:30pm
Done with my “normal” job and off to pick up the kiddo from daycare! LOVE this time of day. Nothing better than my 4 year old running up to me to give me the biggest squeeze. We chat in the car the entire way home about our day.

5:15pm
Finally arrive at home! I take out the dog, feed him his dinner, prepare our dinner and wait for my hubby to get home. Oh, and I’ll try to photograph any projects while the sunlight is still shining through my windows and dinner is in the oven. We usually sit down to eat as a family around 6pm.

6:30pm
Dinner is done and it’s time to play for a bit. If the weather is nice, we’ll play outside and chat with the neighbors. If I’m behind on blogging, you might find me inside crafting at the dining room table, painting a piece of furniture in the family room or sitting on the couch with my laptop. Tonight’s activity: soccer practice then working on a Cardinals baseball wreath!

8:00pm
Bathtime!

8:30pm
Kiddo goes off to bed. Now it’s time for mommy to get working on her blog. I will resize my photographs, write blog posts, catch up on emails, visit various link parties and work on my blog schedule for the upcoming weeks (I got my daily planner from Blurb.com). I can do most of this work on the couch while watching some of my shows recorded on DVR.

10:45pm
I head into our bedroom to get ready for for bed (it’s 10:54pm as I’m writing this post so I’m a little behind schedule). I spend the next 30 minutes or so on my iPad browsing through Pinterest. If I’m a good girl, I’ll sit up and read a good book instead.

11:15pm
The iPad or book goes away, lights out and I’m off to dreamland (and yes, if you’re reading this correctly I get about 6 hours of sleep a night).

The weekends are usually filled with a lot more family time. I try not to open my computer on Saturday or Sunday so I can give full attention to my hubby and daughter. I also sleep in! Yep, I try to sleep until 8am or later on Saturday and Sunday if we don’t have early soccer games or other activities.

While I don’t open my computer on the weekends very often, I do love to work on my bigger projects. I try to get everything accomplished between 8 and 10am on Saturday and Sunday so we have the rest of the day as a family.

So my life doesn’t sound that hectic, right?
Trust me, in my world, it’s worth every minute!